Spending the holidays alone? Not while I'm Around
by Weeping Blood
Summary: It's the holidays, and Orihime has no one to spend it with. Surprisingly, Ichigo noticed the strange change in her mood and decided to ask her if she'd like to stay over with his family for the holidays. One-shot, Ichihime.


It was the holly jolly holidays in Karakura town, only 10 days until christmas. Deciding what to buy their friends and family were on the minds of everyone, and a few wondered who'd they would be kissing under the mistletoe. For once, Ichigo was able to relax and have a normal holiday with his family. Uryu decided to give his relationship with his father a chance, but it was going to end up hopeless either way. Rukia and Renji are spending the holidays at Byakuya's house. Orihime was still trying to figure out a way to spend her holidays, she wanted to ask Tatsuki if she could stay at her house but then decided that would be rude since she has a family of her own.

After finishing up at work, Orihime closed the shop and began going home. It was snowing so the cold made her body shiver. Her breath was visible when she breathed into the air, she shivered from the freezing atmosphere.

''Hey pretty little lady, want me to walk you home?'' A larger man came up to her, who looked about 10 years older than Orihime, his hair was black and he had a mustache. Orihime looked up, blinking in confusion she remembered how her brother Sora told her to never go with strangers she didn't know, especially grown men.

''No thank you sir, I'll be fine on my own.'' She gave a nervous smile and continued walking, but the man refused to take no for an answer and grabbed her wrist.

''You know, I hate brats that refuse my kind offers. I suggest you come with me or I'll stuff you into my car and force you to come.'' his grip tightened on her wrist.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to hold back the pain he was causing her. ''Please, could you just leave me alone.'' Orihime meekly pleaded, but the man refused to listen to her. He continued to tightly grasp Orihime's arm to the point where it would most likely end up bruised.

Someone else's arm grabbed the man's arm and yanked it off of her, causing Orihime to trip back from her attempts to get out on her own. ''She said leave her alone, do yourself a favor and get the hell away from her.'' Hazel eyes glared at the older man.

''I suggest you mind your business spike head, unless you want a black eye.'' He warned, but then wish he could take back his words when Ichigo clenched the guy's arm to the point where it would've broken the bone. Ichigo raised his fist and punched him directly in the face without any regret or mercy, and he ended up on the floor.

In awe, Orihime didn't know how to react anyway except remaining silent and just staring with widened eyes.

''You alright?'' Ichigo held out a hand to help her up, Orihime nodded and took his hand before standing up.

''Umm... thank you, Kurosaki-kun.'' a tint of red blush appeared on her cheeks, along with a cheerful smile that she usually wore.

''Don't mention it.'' He wore a relieved smile, ''Want me to walk you home?'' Ichigo asked.

''If you don't mind.'' her eyes wandered nervously on the ground, thinking about the idea.

''I really don't want anymore bastards like that harassing you, so of course I don't mind.'' He let out a sigh.

Orihime let out a little gasp when she noticed that he was still holding her hand, Ichigo noticed aswell and quickly snatched his hand away.

''Sorry, didn't even notice that.'' He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, avoiding eye contact with her.

''No, it's fine.'' She giggled in slight amusement before taking his hand back, ''I really don't mind. So let's go.'' Orihime looked up at him, to see his puzzled expression along with a blush he tried to hide on his face.

''Uh... yeah.'' was all that he could say before they started walking to her house.

xxx

During the whole walk, Orihime was silent. It pretty much killed her inside to not speak to him and to have this awkward silence, but her mood just saddened more, the closer they got to her home.

''Inoue, are you alright?'' the question broke her out of her trance, she quickly looked over to him.

''-Why do you asked?'' Orihime hesitated to answer since her reason felt idiotic in her mind.

''You're usually more cheerful, especially around the holiday time.'' He pointed out, which was infact true.

''It seems that way, doesn't it?'' She answered with a sorrowful smile, looking down. ''The holidays, when friends and family get together...'' Ichigo remained silent when she said that, rememebering the day when he saw her brother died.

''Wait, Inoue.'' He said, stopping and then noticed they were in front of his house.

''This isn't... where I live.'' She pointed out.

''I know, but I wanna ask you something. I know this sounds pretty stupid, I don't know why I decided to ask but, would you like to spend the holidays with us?'' He asked, grasping her hand a little tigher.

''W-What?'' Her gray orbs widened, in disbelief that he actually asked what he asked. Her heartbeat increased rapidly, she tried to comprehend if this was a dream or reality; she saw it was reality. Suddenly, she couldn't help but cry at that moment. Tears emerged from her eyes with every sniffle.

''Did i say something wrong?'' He raised an eyebrow, and started to worry. _'Do I hug her, slap her? Comfort her someway!? What am I suppose to do?'_ he nearly panicked until he felt Orihime wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.

''No, no, everything you said was right. Something I never began to think you'd say.'' She grinned widely, tears of joy still streamed from her eyes.

Ichigo hugged her back and couldn't help but smile aswell since he honestly never seen her so happy before in his life.

''So I guess that's a yes?'' He asked with a small chuckle.

Orihime pulled away from the hug, quickly wiping away her tears with her arm. Looking up at him, her cheerful expression remained. ''Mhm!'' she nodded without hesitation.

''Alright, follow me. Also, try not to pay any attention to my idiot of a dad.'' Ichigo stated, knowing how immature Isshin could act.

''Umm, okay.'' Orihime blinked in confusion, since she actually never had a proper introduction to his father.

''Stay close to me.'' He grabbed her hand then quietly walked inside his house. Orihime didn't understand why he was so cautious since it was _infact_ his house. When they walked inside, it was silent. Ichigo let out a sigh of relief and hoped that it was silent because his dad was at work. They walked up the stairs and went up to Ichigo's room, and of course he made sure to lock the door behind him.

''Alright, sorry to freak you out like that. Wanted to make sure my dad didn't make a scene in front of you.'' Ichigo groaned in annoyance, remembering all the times he did that in front of Tatsuki and Rukia.

Orihime giggled before sitting on his bed, ''I wouldn't mind, I heard a lot of stuff about your family from Tatsuki.''

''She sure has a big mouth.''

''To um, change the subject... I wanna ask you something.'' she nervously started biting down on her bottem lip, while looking down at her feet which were covered with white socks.

''What is it?'' He unbuttoned his coat and hung it on a coat hanger on the side of his closet.

''Why did you... suddenly decide to invite me over?'' She asked looking over at him. Ichigo was a little speechless for a moment by the question but he went over to take her coat.

''This might sound pretty cheesy, but-'' He walked over and hung up Orihime's coat aswell, and his back faced her. ''I didn't want to see your smile fade away, you always seem so energized and cheerful that it was actually painful to see you so sad like that.''

Orihime felt heat rushing to her face, she never thought Ichigo was the type of person to say what he was saying now. It was like seeing an entirely different side of him, which was fascinating.

_''How long has it been, since I felt like this?'' _She thought while glancing at him with a dazed expression, ''_I remember why I fell in love with him, if only I could admit it to his face.'' _she brushed some hair out of her face with her finger and clenched her fingers in her other palm on the bed's blanket.

''You're probably thinking of how stupid I sound now.'' Ichigo still stood with his back facing her, to also keep hidden the awkward expressions he wore on his face that he didn't want to reveal to her.

Orihime stood up and walked over to him while he rambled on about nonsense that wasn't true in the least.

''But you know, I just hope you don't run away before the holidays actually get here.'' he continued.

''Ano... Ichigo.'' Orihime spoke up from behind him.

''Wait, did you jus-'' he turned around and was interrupted by Orihime making a finger gesture for him to lean down closer to her. His eyes widened when she went and pressed her lips against his cheek and engulfed him in a hug.

''Stop putting words in my mouth, your words sink deep.'' Orihime stated, then Ichigo remained silent while just listening to her words.

''No, I'm not going to leave anytime soon. I'd stay here forever if I could. Because you know, I was reminded something.'' she softly laughed for a second, ''I was reminded why I fell in love with you.''

Hazel eyes widened with those last four words, his heart speeded up rapidly. He didn't know how to react to those words, he just couldn't see anyone loving him.

''Are you... serious?'' was all he could say.

She unwrapped her arms from around his neck, looking up at his skeptical face. The amount of courage it took to even admit her feelings, and he doesn't even believe her.

''You... don't believe me?'' Her voice cracked, trying to prevent tears from forming in her eyes again.

''I never said that.'' He clenched his fists. '' It's just something I wasn't expecting to hear all of a sudden. I never knew you felt that way.'' He covered his face with his hands then walked over to his window before swiping them off.

''It's the truth, I've actually...'' She took small footsteps towards him from behind, ''I've had feelings for you for three years.'' her arms were held behind her back, a fragile expression remained on her face as she stared down.

''Three years?'' He asked, calming himself down.

''Y-Yes.'' She responded nervously.

''How come you never told me sooner?'' He asked again, all of the sudden infomation revealed to him was almost overwhelming, he wanted more answers.

She looked at him, regardless of his back facing her. Her gray orbs widened a bit, she asked herself that very question all the time. She had told him one time, but that was when he wasn't even conscious.

''I just thought there was no point.'' She hesitantly laughed for a moment, ''I immediately assumed you'd never feel the same way since I used to think you were in love with Ru-, um.. someone else.'' her eyes turned away since her cheeks warmed up with every word she spoke.

Ichigo snorted and couldn't control his laughing, but eventually stopped and turned around, which caught her attention.

''You thought I was in love with Rukia, didn't you?'' He amusingly sighed when he saw her shyly nod. Ichigo walked over to Orihime, the height difference between them was about 2 feet. Orihime's metallic orbs looked up to see chocolate orbs meet with her, his arms rested on both of her shoulders. He inhaled, then exhaled before speaking.

''That's the stupidest thing you could've ever thought of.'' He spoke straight out, all jokes aside he remained with a serious demeanor. Orihime blinked twice, she couldn't find a way to respond but assumed that was his polite way of telling her that she was wrong in every way.

''But anyway-'' He released his hold on her shoulders and turned around, ''I gotta go pick up Karin from soccer practice, I'll be back.'' Ichigo grabbed his coat and walked out of his room.

''_He didn't even tell me whether he felt the same way I felt, or not.''_ She sat back on his bed, embarassment came over her.

''I knew telling him would be a mistake, but I just had to make a fool of myself. I'm so stupid.'' she spoke, but realized she was speaking outloud. What Orihime didn't know was that someone listened on the other side of the door.

''I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with yourself, Inoue.'' Ruka from the window, that somehow opened.

''Kuchiki-san, how did you...-'' She got startled when she saw Rukia slip and nearly fell but Orihime caught her in time by her wrist and pulled her up.

''Gomen, I forgot how slippery it gets during this kind of weather.'' Rukia let out a much needed breath after making it inside the room, she was in her shinigami uniform which would explain how she reached up to the window.

''No need to apologize, it's nice to see you again.'' Orihime softly smiled, but it immediately faded as she looked away from her friend as they sat beside each other on the bed.

Violet orbs blinked in surprise, ''What's the matter, Inoue?''

''Oh nothing.'' Orihime painfully smiled, ''Just embarassed myself, that's all.''

''Based on what I heard before, I assume it has something to do with Ichigo?'' Rukia raised an eyebrow.

''Oh no, no!'' Orihime immediately denied, ''He didn't do anything, I was just being an idiot.'' she clenched the material on her white pants, trying to hold back tears.

''Tell me what happened, or I'll have to beat it out of Ichigo's idiotic head.'' Rukia warned, although she didn't want to patronize Orihime into telling her.

''The thing is-'' Orihime mulled over finding the right words to say to Rukia, ''I kind of told him that I loved him.'' with that, Rukia's eyes widened but she kept quiet and just allowed Orihime to continue speaking.

''It took every bit of courage to finally tell him that, and I meant every word.''She rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater, ''It seems really stupid, but it really hurt me when he didn't tell me any sort of legitimate response to my confession.''

''i'm sorry you have to see me like this, getting so emotion over something so silly. It's ju-'' Orihime's words were stopped by a cold hand being placed ontop of hers.

''That's enough, you're just stressing yourself out more for all the wrong reasons.'' Rukia assured, just looking at Orihime's sorrowful eyes was enough to tear her heart apart. Somehow, there was always a softspot Rukia saved for Orihime in particular. She could've bare to see her friend suffering.

''You're not the one who's at fault, maybe Ichigo didn't know how to immediately respond to your confession.'' Rukia explained, ''Give him some time, and if he doesn't respond soon just tell me so I can give him a piece of my mind. But I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't fall in love with someone as sweet as you.''

''Kuchiki-san... you don't know how much it means to me to be able to talk to you like this.'' Orihime said, a cheerful smile spreading across her lips.

''That's what friends are for, I'll suffer the same pain you suffer, I'll be there to share your burdens, just seeing you in pain is what hurts me.'' Rukia said while staring into Orihime's eyes, ''Even if you don't want my opinion though, I say you deserve better than Ichigo.''

''Kuchiki-san-'' Orihime wrapped her arms around the small girl, it was surprising she didn't crush Rukia by doing so. Being buried in the girl's arms, Rukia gasped for air and adjusted so she wouldn't suffocate.

''Kuchiki-san, I appreciate the concern you have but to tell you the truth- I wouldn't know anyone better than Ichigo, except you but that's kind of ridiculous.'' She softly giggled, ''Although, even if I lose him as a friend.. I just want to know that I'll always have you as my friend.''

''You don't have to worry about that, we'll always be friends. That, I can most certainly promise.'' Rukia smiled, ''But you're kind of choking me, I really don't feel like dying you know.''

''Oh!'' Orihime immediately pulled back and released Rukia, an embarassed blush appeared on the cheerful girl's face ''Sorry, I tend to get carried away.'' she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

''Anyway, where is that idiot?'' Rukia asked curiously.

''He went to pick up his sister from soccer practice.'' Orihime answered while twirling her auburn hair around her finger.

''Oh really, why is it that I sense his reiatsu nearby and it's not even moving an inch to where his sister is at?'' Rukia crossed her arms annoyingly, she could sense him hiding in the house somewhere.

Orihime's eyes widened when she noticed she wasn't paying attention to his reiatsu and realized Rukia was right.

''Want to go look for him?'' Rukia asked, looking over at Orihime.

Standing on her feet, she let out a deep breath before nodding ''Yeah.'' Orihime smiled, ''Just promise not to hurt him.''

''I won't make any promises for that.'' Rukia crossed her arms with a crooked smile on her lips, Ichigo just knew how to irk her in all the wrong ways. She always felt like she had to put him in his place, especially now since he wants to screw with Orihime's feelings. Rukia grabbed Orihime's arm and pulled her out of the room. They rushed downstairs but then tiptoed inside the kitchen, from their they hid and found out Ichigo was talking on the phone in the living room.

''Shhhh.'' Rukia signaled by putting a finger to her lips, both of them attempted to remain as quiet as can be. Eavsdropping.

''I didn't know who else to call about this, can't you just give me some advice since you know her better than I do?'' Ichigo asked to the person on the phone.

''How the hell am I an idiot? Who else was I suppose to ask?'' he groaned after he spoke.

''Listen, I know she could do better than me.'' Ichigo sighed, closing his eyes ''But she said what she said, and I don't want to hurt her feelings.''

''_Does that mean he feels only pity for me_?'' Orihime thought as she continued to listen to his conversation, a sad expression was on her face. Rukia noticed and caught her attention by tapping her arm.

''You should keep listening, it's not what you think.'' Rukia whispered, Orihime merely nodded and continued to keep herself hidden.

''How I think of Orihime is a little hard to describe, I've always really admired that kind-hearted nature she has. She's really gorgeous too.'' Ichigo's face heated up as he spoke, since he wasn't used to talking about this type of stuff with Tatsuki.

Orihime found herself smiling, along with her heartbeat speeding up rapidly, the two were both blushing.

''Well, right now she's hiding in the kitchen w ith Rukia and they both assume I can't sense their reiatsu from here.'' Ichigo said with a smirk.

''He certainly got better at sensing reiatsu.'' Rukia chuckled.

''I'll call you back, Tatsuki.'' Ichigo hung up his phone and slid it into his pocket. He walked near Orihime and Rukia's hiding place.

''So, when are you guys going to stop playing Hide-and-Seek?'' He asked leaning his arm against the wall.

Orihime quickly tried to make her getaway by crawling out of the kitchen, but ended up bumping into Ichigo's leg. Looking up, she realized she was busted.

''Um, hi...'' She meekly spoke, with a guilty smile.

''Hello there, need some help?'' He held out his hand, and Orihime took it and stood on her feet.

''Hmph, Ichigo...'' Rukia crossed her arms as she glared at him.

''Rukia, if it's too much to ask, could you give us a few minutes of privacy.'' Ichigo asked with an annoyed expression on his face.

''Too bad I don't get to see how you'll screw this up, but I'll see you two later.'' Rukia waved and left since she had other errands to take care of.

''Geez, she never knows how to give me a legitimate compliment.'' He sighed, ''Anyway.'' Ichigo looked back over at Orihime, who was embarassingly trying to hide her face.

''Orihime's not here at the moment.'' She covered her face with both of her hands.

''Inoue, why were you and Rukia eavsdropping?'' Ichigo pulled her hands away from her face, and held them down incase she tried hiding again.

''Why did you lie about going to pick up your sister?'' Orihime asked, with a partly angry expression.

''I-'' he attempted to think of an excuse, and opened his mouth to answer but couldn't find the words to say ''I asked you a question first.'' Ichigo demanded, trying to avoid facing his lie.

''They always said, 'ladies first'.'' Orihime countered back.

Ichigo groaned in defeat, ''Fine.'' he sighed, ''The truth is that when you said what you did to me upstairs, I didn't know what to do so I needed an excuse to get some advice from someone.''

''Tatsuki-chan?'' She raised an eyebrow, it was interesting for her to know Tatsuki was that type of friend with Ichigo.

''Who else was I suppose to go to? That dumbass, Ishida?'' Ichigo said, ''Now anyway, I explained myself, now it's your turn.''

Ichigo's reason seemed so legit, that Orihime felt embarassed when it was her turn. She fiddled with her fingers and embarassingly looked down.

''Umm... it's not very important. Aha... ha.'' she awkwardly laughed, with heat rushing to her face. ''I'll just be going now.'' she turned to walk away but Ichigo grabbed her shoulder.

''Oh no, you're telling me whether you like it or not.'' Ichigo declared, he wasn't going to take no for an answer this time.

With a sigh, Orihime just decided to say it ''After you left, I assumed you just wanted an excuse to get away from me so I started having doubts and then Rukia came and I found out you were downstairs and I heard you talking and...'' she stopped rambling since she was near her breaking point and was about to cry.

Ichigo grabbed her waist and lifted her up on his shoulder. Orihime was startled, and worried she would fall off.

''W-What're you doing?'' Orihime asked, she held onto him for dear life and then remembered the first time he had picked her up and felt the exact same way.

Ichigo didn't answer and just took her upstairsade her worry and started having bizarre thoughts of him throwing her into the basement to be left in for all eternity tied up on a chair, alone in the dark. But of course, she was overreacting in her imagination since all Ichigo did was take her to his room and placed her on the bed. Confused, she looked up at him and he had that usual scowling expression he usually wore but it wasn't as angry looking as it usually looked.

Ichigo's hands were placed on either side of her on the bed, their faces were only inches apart.

''You heard me talking, and your doubts went away. Right?'' His hazel orbs bored into her silver ones. Orihime didn't answer and just stood there looking like a lost duckling.

Ichigo softly smiled, which was rare for him. ''I take that expression on your face for a yes.'' he kissed her cheek. He stroked her hair then held the strands beneath his fingertips.

''You remind me so much of my mother, smart, beautiful, cheerful, always knew how to make me smile.'' He released her hairstrands, ''Although, you both have something that seperates both of you.''

Orihime blinked, when she saw the way he looked when he talked about his mom it was almost painful. He had a sad expression, but a small smile still remained on his lips. Orihime could remember a time when Tatsuki told her that his mom used to always make him smile. That smile soon faded when she left this world.

''Whenever I'm with you, I have this weird feeling that comes over me. Also, she's my mom and you're not. That's a HUGE difference.'' he chuckled while she just sat there silently.

''But let me ask you one thing.'' he grew serious once, Orihime never once turned a blind eye while he spoke.

''Don't think anything of it, I just want to be sure of this.'' Ichigo explained, ''Are you really in love with me?''

Orihime's lips quivered for a moment, then she finally said ''Yes, I am in love with you.'' a smile formed on her lips and her eyes brightened.

Her heartbeat began beating rapidly once again, the influence he had on her was undescribeable ; what she didn't know was that Ichigo's heartbeat sped up rapidly aswell when she spoke those words of reassurance. For a while there was silence, just then face to face, eye to eye. She could feel his warm breath on her face, he made her body practically want to melt away. In his eyes, it didn't show any look of disapproval or any look of dislike for what she said.

Orihime's hand moved up to his cheek to caress it, her thumb rubbed back and forth in a single place on the skin of his cheek which she couldn't help but notice how soft it felt.

Her hand gave him a chill down his spine, staring at her beautiful features he wished he could kiss her right now but decided against it. It irked him since his 'needs' told him otherwise but he wanted to wait for the perfect moment. Looking at her, he could tell she wanted the same thing he did.

Orihime took her hand away from his face, they stared eye to eye and she could help but feel anxious. Realizing their lips were getting closer to each other, she felt like the whole world had stopped.

_''He's... he's really going to kiss me. What am I going to do?'' _she mentally asked herself the most obvious question.

Both of them remained restless until their lips pressed against each other, it was a strange sensation for both of them.

Neither of them had experienced true love before, to them experiencing love was like a toddler learning how to walk.

Their lips pulled back, and their eyes met.

''So, would you stay with me?'' Ichigo asked her.

Orihime couldn't help but giggle with a grin on her face, ''Yes, I'll stay with you forever, and ever, and ever, and ever!'' she beamed, while snuggling into his chest.

''That's a lot of evers.'' he chuckled.


End file.
